Reports indicate that German manufacturer BMW Motorrad is looking to buy Austrian motorbike manufacturer KTM.
KTM is set to have an important meeting with creditors on Tuesday to vote on its restructuring. If the vote is approved, the marque will pay back 30% of its €2-plus billion debts by the end of May.
This important vote could result in KTM declaring bankruptcy if the restructuring plan fails to go ahead.
The Bavarian giants reportedly want to buy KTM but reportedly want to take the brand out of Austria.
BMW want to operate research and development at its Motorrad site in Munich, Germany while producing its bikes in India. The Indian Bajaj Group already manufactures KTM motorbikes.
The report from oe24 indicates that this plan would result in all 4500 members of staff facing unemployment by the end of 2025.
As a result of this action should it go ahead, €225 million of Austrian taxpayers’ insolvency fund would have to financially compensate the members of staff who would be made redundant. This could amount to up to €50,000 per person per year.
This news could see the introduction of BMW in MotoGP after the Bavarian brand had previously expressed interest in joining the series in 2027.
Previously, BMW acquired Suzuki’s team data when the Japanese marque was in the series.
BMW currently races the in the WorldSBK series and won its first two-wheeled title last year with Turkish rider Toprak Razgatlioglu, who one day stated he wanted to ride in MotoGP.
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